By Fatima Saka
The Federal Government has urged farmers to intensify collaborations in order to strengthen the agricultural sector and diversify the nation’s economy.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, made this assertion on Wednesday in Abuja at the commemoration ceremony of the National Farmers Day Celebration.
The event was themed: “Farmers Development: A panacea to Nigeria’s economic impasse“.
Abubakar stated that agriculture is a sector people can continue to diversify into without end.
“Agriculture can never end, as long as humanity exists and we must come together to move the country forward through agriculture.
“The economy was dependent on oil and gas for our foreign exchange and development until the inception of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, who initiated agriculture as the way forward for Nigeria.
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“The small-holder farmers consisting of women and youths constitute 70 per cent of the production of food in this country and we cannot do without them.
“The ministry has been working with the smallholder farmers to achieve the objectives of the president to move the nation forward through agricultural diversification of the country.
In his keynote speech, Dr Farouk Mudi, the National President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said that the essence of the Farmers Day Celebration is a day that avails agricultural stakeholders especially agro-allied industries the opportunity to meet each other.
“It will also enable them to establish linkages and synergies that can take farming to the next business level through mechanization and agricultural industrial development.
“Farmers’ Day is here to stay. It gives me a great pleasure to address this August assembly of Nigerian Farmers, AFAN, is pleased to have you all here as you came from nooks and crannies of our great country Nigeria to showcase our rich agricultural practices and services.
“The National Farmers Day is an international annual event that offers the much-deserved praise to the hard-working farmers across nations.
“It is also a day to promote consumer-manufacturer relationship through the exhibitions of agricultural products, equipment, tools, other agro-related goods and services to celebrate farmers, who immensely contribute to the growth and development of the nation.
“This event is intended to achieve sustainable food security and job creation, most especially for youths, that will accommodate exhibition and networking in agriculture,” he said.
